Analysis: Entry Lists for the 2016 24 Hours of Le Mans, European Le Mans Series, & FIA World Endurance Championship

Covered in this press conference were the entry lists, for the 2016 24 Hours of Le Mans, the FIA World Endurance Championship, and also, the European Le Mans Series.  For more information on those championships, visit:

24h-lemans.com
fiawec.com
europeanlemansseries.com

ICYMI, here are some of the notable pieces of information, to come out of the presentation.

• The A.C.O. has been around for 110 years, and they combine racing, the aspect of endurance races, and other interests, held by the Le Mans circuit like a museum, driving schools, a resort, and other activities.
• Team spirit, ethics, and fair play, are part of what the A.C.O. wants, to make their racing set a high standard, including the new energy efficient LMP1 racing classes.  Use resources, other than fossil fuels.  
• New improvements will come, to Le Mans, including two new garages, to include two more cars, in the race.  Four, actually.  60 cars will race at Le Mans, this year.
• The A.C.O. will publish a quarterly endurance racing magazine, called Spirit of Le Mans.
• Stability in the regulations, is what is wanted.  If it's not broken, don't fix it.
• Fuel management, will be a focus.  There will also be, a new, faster, extreme generation of GT production based cars, for instance, the new Ford GT.  It's the epitome of a new generation of cars.  Don't forget, the Ferrari 488 GTE.  This will be a great battle to watch.  We are eager to see, the starting grid.  Will the new regulations attract new drivers?  Are the regulations fair and predictable enough for racing, and for the fans?
• FIA President, Jean Todt, is in Paris.  Todt explains, there will be nine races, this year, including the 24 Hours of Le Mans, plus, a new event, a 6 hour race, in Mexico City, Mexico.
• The ELMS season will start on March 22nd and 23rd at Le Castellet.  The races will be at Silverstone, England, Monza, Italy, Spielberg, Austria, Le Castellet, France, Spa Francorchamps, Belgium, and Estoril, Portugal.
• ELMS will have 44 cars on the grid.
• GT category competitors: AF Corse Ferrari's x2, Formula Racing Ferrari x2, Aston Martin Racing x2, another Ferrari, a BMW, and Proton Porsche x2
• LMP3 will have two American entered Ligier's for United Autosport + OAK Racing Ligier with two cars.  360 Racing, an Italian team, two French teams, and a Swiss team, will race.  Plus, there will be teams, from Poland, and England.  Murphy Prototypes, from Ireland, will also be in the class, with their own car.  There will be still another couple of Ligier's on the grid.
• In LMP2, there will be two Greaves Motorsports cars, and Memo Rojas will drive one.  Dragonspeed from the U.S. and EurAsia Motorsports, will compete.  ADEC Sport, and a couple of other teams, will run Ligier cars.  Hexis Racing, will run a Morgan, and there will be one BR01.  Race Performance will run an ORECA chassis, and G-Drive Racing, will have an entry with Simon Dolan driving.  Tracy Krohn will enter a Ligier from the U.S.  TDS Racing will also be there, with an ORECA.  There will be another ORECA for Murphy Prototypes.
• 35 Prototypes + 9 GT cars, will make up the ELMS field.
• 20 cars will run in LMP3.
• The A.C.O. has their own GT3 championship.  There will be a GT3 race, supporting the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
• Olivier Panis, Jacques Nicolet, and Fabien Barthez, are here.  Racing drivers, and sporting stars, who will compete in ELMS.  They want to have a new experience, with their team.  They have experience in motorsports.  
• Young drivers, can be trained, to work with teams, and different manufacturers.  Share the idea, of these drivers, being empowered, to become pro drivers.  Barthez, is a former football (soccer) player.  Barthez says, "I feel welcome, and accepted.  I have a passion, for motorsports."  Barthez wants to enjoy the passion of motorsport.  Yet, remain humble, and focused, on the racing program itself.  Barthez's team, will be one of the teams, racing a Ligier.  Ligier, just won the Daytona 24 Hours of course.
• The new constructors of Ligier, share the passion, of the car's original designer, the late, great, Guy Ligier.
• ORECA head, Hughes de Chaunac, is mentioned.  Thanks to Gibson, BR, Ferrari, and Porsche.  
• There will be support series for ELMS, including single seaters and GT3 Le Mans Cup.            
• Christophe Tinseau, and Frederic Sausset, have put a team together to race.  Sausset, is a driver, with disabilities, who will race as the Garage 56 team.  Sausset, had an accident, and his passion, is motorsport.  So, he will be able to drive, at Le Mans, with an adapted race car.  The project, is go, for this year.  Sausset, has participated in races, already, after his accident.  He has designed a car, that he can drive.  Proof you can do anything, no matter differences.  The Garage 56 concept was introduced in 2012, to welcome innovative technology.  This is R&D exercise, for sure.  Explore avenues that think about tomorrow's competition, and mobility, and think outside the box.  
• Welter Racing, may enter a car, powered by methane fuel. 
• Safety is a major issue, and the track is constantly examined, for safety.  There is a new SAFER barrier, from the United States, and there are larger shoulders in the corners.
• Alex Wurz, will be the 2016 Le Mans Grand Marshal.  He is honored, and loves Le Mans.  This race has remained true to itself, and has never changed.  Wurz says sports car racing is probably the purest, most authentic form of racing.  Wurz is a two-time winner, and the youngest winner.  He has run the race eight times.  Wurz, was racing at Daytona.  He is happy about how his career has come around, and he wants to enjoy the race, from the outside.
• General Director Frederic Lenaurt, hopes the A.C.O. continues to welcome different audiences, for the race.  It will be easier, for fans, to come to the race.  First-time Le Mans visitors, will experience the race, and have more space for traffic.  There will be new events.  A special event, will not close the track, on Thursday morning.  Hopes are also, to attract more female racing drivers.
• There will be a surprise in store, and the new posters are unveiled.  The race is iconic, unique, and future oriented.  There is also, a promotional campaign.  

Who will race?

• LM GTE Pro & LM GTE Am
• Prototype (LMP2 for private teams)
• Prototype (LMP1 for private teams)
• Prototype (LMP1 for factory teams) 

FIA WEC schedule

4-17 Silverstone, England
5-7 Spa, Belgium
6-18/6-19 Le Mans
7-24 Nurburgring
Mexico City (not sure of the date)
9-17 Austin, Texas
10-6 Fuji, Japan
11-6 Shanghai, China
Bahrain (not sure of the date)

60 cars will race at Le Mans.  Entry lists, will be announced here, on the blog, ASAP.

Here is a breakdown of the entry lists.

FIA WEC

LMP1: 9 cars
LMP2: 10 cars
LM GTE Pro: 7 cars
LM GTE Am: 6 cars

Le Mans 24 Hours

LMP1: 9 cars
LMP2: 22 cars
LM GTE Pro: 14 cars
LM GTE Am: 14 cars

It is a quality field.  Just incredible.  Porsche, Ferrari, and Ford, will race against each other, along with Aston Martin.  Dave Pericak of Ford, is excited and honored, to race on the world stage again.  Aston Martin's David Richards, says GT racing is amazingly competitive, and this year's racing will be harder fought, than ever before.  Ligier, Oreca, and Gibson will compete in LMP2, and Audi, Porsche, and Toyota, will fight again, for LMP1 honors.  Porsche's Andreas Seidl says the team is looking forward to racing this season.

They are on target, to do well.  The Porsche 919 will be an evolution of the existing car.  The driver lineup will remain unchanged between the six drivers for the two cars.  Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich of Audi, says that they too, are looking forward to a challenge.  Last year, they got off to a good start and faded later.  They want to be constantly competitive in the WEC and at Le Mans.  Chris Reinke, technical director, has moved to Audi Customer Racing.  A replacement will come in a couple weeks.

The driver teams are unchanged, for Audi.  Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich says hard work is what will pay off in racing.  Always be ready to learn new things, and look for new challenges.  Pascal Vasselon for Toyota, says that last year, there was no choice for the team, except to review the car.  The decisions, were made, too late.  What we have so far, might improve the performance.  There was no choice but to build a whole new car including engine, hybrid system, chassis, and body.  There is an objective, to try and win Le Mans.

Vasselon says, Toyota is looking for a win, at Le Mans.  What happened last year, had nothing to do with the drivers.  Alex Wurz, will be an ambassador for Toyota, except for when he is Grand Marshal at Le Mans.  Sports car racing, is truly a magical thing.  Rolex, is the timing partner, for the FIA WEC.  Michelin, is also, a tire partner for WEC, as is Dunlop tires.  Shell fuels and oils, are also a sponsor.  The FIA/ACO partnership, enters it's fifth season.  The FIA WEC is truly a family, as they acknowledge all the people, who work for the championship.

ACO President Pierre Fillon, is very pleased, with what the new season will offer.  The competitors are a reward, and the A.C.O. teams, are doing a great job.  Thank you, A.C.O.  Thank you, FIA.  2016 will be a great year.  Let the racing begin, and we'll see how the races come out.  Stay tuned, for coverage, of the FIA WEC races, here, on Endurance... The Sports Car Racing Blog.  Long live endurance.  Long live motorsport.  So long, for now, everyone.